real good stuff. he's right about the money thing. more people will make money faster (as an alternative structure develops to allow it) but it'll be harder to make a million... but who needs a million anyway. :P

I love it. Hearing artists speak like this makes me feel good about being a fan of hip-hop.

Posted by: Josh at September 14, 2007 2:05 PM

I agree that there is a lot of POTENTIAL for talented artists to rise to the top (thus resulting in great music). But potential does not equal REALIZATION.

Some things not mentioned...

1. Maybe rap music is not so big because people would rather hear singing than rapping. Maybe it isn't just the quality, but also simply the artform itself. Maybe rapping, like bebop, is simply falling out of favor.

2. African-American musical influence and innovation is waning. Sorry to be racist, but Black people are why music has been so great all these years. Black communities are fragmenting. Times have changed. Black people are not limited to sports and entertainment. Creative black minds are pursuing non-musical careers.

3. History does not repeat itself so predictably. Don't assume that we will have great new music movements every 10-20 years. Yes, the Phoenix might be a good metaphor for this situation. But Icarus might also be a good metaphor.

Maybe we just need to mellow out, relax, take a deep breath... and just relax for a bit. It is a nice opportunity to revisit the classics.

I think what he has done building his fame on youtube and myspace is great.
but i disagree with both of your optimistic outlooks on the future of music and new technology.
Someone is going to find ways to exploit artists in new ways. Clearchannel and MTV are gonna keep slithering into this market until they strangle the good out. And the consumers are going to help them. And those of us who love and care about good art will be stuck having to find even newer ways to get it to each-other.

1. Maybe rap music is not so big because people would rather hear singing than rapping. Maybe it isn't just the quality, but also simply the artform itself. Maybe rapping, like bebop, is simply falling out of favor.

-- Rap music is big, it's just not selling any units. But this trend is feasible across the board within the music business. So, if Garth Brooks is getting downloaded, you can guarantee that Young Jeezy is being treated the same. So, I don't think that it's falling out of favor [because it's still a viable cash cow], it's more or less still being a stagnant art form that's not being challenged by the gate keepers to appease to the consumers.

2. African-American musical influence and innovation is waning. Sorry to be racist, but Black people are why music has been so great all these years. Black communities are fragmenting. Times have changed. Black people are not limited to sports and entertainment. Creative black minds are pursuing non-musical careers.

-- Black people have always had the minds to pursue careers, but necessarily always the opportunity to do so. Now, more so than ever, people are taking those charges. Is the music affected by this? Not really. Why? The companies in charge are looking for the sound that'll be comparable to a cash register. So, if I have a great Blues singer, but the popular art form is rap and MC Murda Stab Slap-a-Ho is burning up in his neighborhood... who am I going to put my marketing dollars behind? I hate to continue to spread the thought that it's all the Evil Corporations [T.I.s] fault, but in some corny way, they're majorly responsible for the artist's promotion [not necessarily development, because they was who they was 'fo they got here - word to Jay-Z].

3. History does not repeat itself so predictably. Don't assume that we will have great new music movements every 10-20 years. Yes, the Phoenix might be a good metaphor for this situation. But Icarus might also be a good metaphor.

-- No argument here. If the music were to plummet though, my question is -- what would be next?
Maybe we just need to mellow out, relax, take a deep breath... and just relax for a bit. It is a nice opportunity to revisit the classics.

I wonder to what degree does the corporate media shap -- or respond -- to youth culture? Clearly it is not a one-way thing. Seems like maybe corporations were doing more responding in the 1980s and then gradually did more "shaping" in the late-1990s to the present.

This raises the questions of how/why did these same corporations bring quality music to us in the 1980s/1990s?

It seems to me that the grassroots music culture had a much stronger, both, musical and cultural foundation. Kids these days seem musically malnourished. Sure, kids now have unprecedented access to music from other decades, but it seems like the tradition of MUSIC (you know, with actual notes and harmonies and learning instruments) is fading.

Take a look at the statistics on kids learning musical instruments. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, only 1 in 33 kids in Milwaukee participated in music extracurricular activities. Woah.

At the end of the day, rap music is still music. And music has rules. And it has a history that cannot be ignored if you want to make great music (well, at least compared to music of other generations).

The number of low-income kids who have access to traditional music education is declining to the point where I wouldn't be surprised that, if everything else had remained constant, the quality of music would still be in decline.

Posted by: eric at September 16, 2007 2:49 AM

I think the worst thing about the rap scene nowadays is nepotism. for every mc to drop, he's got two boys that suck. and for some reason, he feels obligated to put them on. man, there are way too many mc's now. do it for leisure but if you're wack...stick to cyphers and stay out the studio. nothing is more annoying (especially to a producer) then a dope mc that brings around
his crumb boys. But like everyone said the corporate media does play a big role in it too. You have mtv/bet/urban radio basically dictating to people whats good music. Cause most people are too lazy to go against the grain and challenge what is being fed to them, they accept it as good cause they are oversaturated with it constantly. I honestly don’t know what the future of hip-hop’s is gonna be. Im the cynical critical type so its looking very grim to me right now

The money is always a constant issue as to how well your creativity can be pushed. When rap music was blowing up in the streets, it was almost privately funded by those who were interested in getting the music out there. Now, that it's out there, and like you said -- the access to music is unprecedented -- it seems as if the people are lazy with it.

Million dollar budgets for albums, videos and advances kind of dilute the final product. This does affect the music, which in turn, affects the customer. So, stop giving these "artists" all that money that makes them want to go out and buy all that glitters and shimmers and let them work for that major mainstream success.

Would you like some alcohol, clothes, jewelry, or auto accessories with that order of fast food music?

Would you like to "super dumb" that order?

ah... "fast food music" you are so right! No nutritional value... no flavor... goes right through you... no preparation required... simply heat and serve... ignore the ingredients... leads to America's #1 health problem...

The fact of the matter is the money printers/owners that run the industry benifit from keeping communities of color fragmented, which is what our current mainstream hip-hop music does. When artists are speaking truth and uniting people, they challenge the stability of the current status quo. This is the same reason the Black Panthers, the Brown Berets, and many other community organizations were destroyed by the elite, White power structure. This is the same reason the South Central Farm in LA was bulldozed and stays vacant and barren. When a peoples movement, especially that of marginalized and disenfranchised youth of color, gains steam and becomes self-sufficient the powers that be get scared and have to squash it. In order for hip-hop to actualize its full potential as a politically powerful and conscious movement we as members of said culture, community and/or movement need to wake up and see that we are not only allowing ourselves to be oppressed by our choice of "entertainment" but we are actually playing oppressor and oppressed simultaneously. And to the above mentioned money owners/printers that sounds like Cha-Ching! I know, I know, finding music that speaks truth and remains entertaining is hard and takes more effort than marching into best buy and grabbing what's hot, but my Pops said he prefers vinyl because it required the dedication of getting up and flipping the record over to get the whole experience. Meaning that it is also the effort put into to getting something that makes getting it that much more rewarding. Wake up my people...Support local independent hip-hop music and check out www.hiphopcongress.org From the frontlines of North East Los Angeles this is General Darkside, North East Colony Prophet. Over and out...

Not sure you get this one? Really? So the way you decipher it, because Jobs brought up a ton of music on his Ipod he couldn't ALSO have, appreciate and enjoy a ton of vinyl? How can you think the majority of it managed to get onto the Ipod-and on CDs before that- to begin with! Why is there this rush to always try to replace mediums as opposed to allowing them to coexist? Just because we invented the wheel didn't mean we don't ever want to walk again and really should cut off our legs. Even though we can fly in a airplane does not mean we don't wish to drive places too. Hello. Neil Young realizes that better than most. He embraces progress in technology as it applies to recorded mediums (his Archives, natch) without eschewing the strengths and quality of vinyl. Why always pick a side, pick a team, choose a medium? Maybe I like having and ultizing more than one option. Why individuals who fancy themselves so progressive can't obtain that is beyond me. It could be a terribly short sighted attitude and yes it ultimately does much more harm than good both business wise and artistically.

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